Weather Report: “Got Garden?” Part 1 — Context, World Food, & Coping

“GOT GARDEN?” PART 1–CONTEXT: Here at PrudentHome we’ve put off writing about the family garden for a couple of weeks now because we couldn’t “get it right”. Things/events were happening in our country and around the world that just wouldn’t let us post another “sources and methods” article on home gardening. The situation is too serious and the subject is too important.

So what we decided to do , was to try to render a kind of thumbnail sketch of some national and international conditions that would provide the prudent family with an additional understanding of the value of a home garden and sustainable home food production. Here goes.

The Economy: We’re all bombarded daily (hourly) with the national financial and credit crisis. Add to this, growing unemployment in what appears to be a crumbling economy that’s running massive deficits at both the state and national levels.

While we now have an economic “stimulus” package that promises a qualified economic resurgence, it comes amid great misgivings on the part many experts both in and out of government. Very little help seems to be going directly to 70% of the economy: the consumer. And it is the consumer that is facing the increasing possibility of joblessness in a matrix of almost certain substantial increases in food (6-9% this year) and fuel (up 20% so far since Christmas).

The rest of the industrialized world has the same set of problems but theirs are on steroids compared to ours, and they generally have less resources to address them.

The less-than-industrialized world is essentially beyond almost any help save charity.

As a world, we are moving into what appears to be a massive recession or depression of uncertain length and severity.

WORLD FOOD: “Catastrophic Fall in Global Food Production” is the article title posted by Energy Bulletin (energybulletin.net) and written by Eric deCarbonnel, Market Oracle this 2/14/09.

Here’s a piece:”…The countries that make up two thirds of the world’s agricultural output are experiencing drought conditions. Whether you watch video of the drought in China, Australia, South America, or the U.S., the scene will be the same: misery, ruined crop, and dying cattle.”

The article goes on to note “…with a 20 to 40 percent decline in world production, already rising food prices are headed significantly higher.”

COPING: From a 2/13 09 talk by author/journalist Dimitri Orlov entitled “Social Collapse Best Practices” (thanks to survivalblog.com of 2/16/09 for this sourcing) comes some valuable insight on family survival during the collapse of the Soviet Union during the mid-1990’s.

Mr. Orlov notes that the people of the USSR supplemented foods available from the government with food they raised in kitchen gardens. While this source of food was never sufficient to live on by itself, it made a great difference in diet and provided the difference between lean times, with very little to eat, and malnutrition. It also helped prevent starvation.

Part 2 of “Got Garden?” will primarily address gardening sources and methods. We hope to present this next week.

Until later this week then, keep your eyes on the horizon.